


Action at a Distance

by ssoouupp



Category: Heaven Will Be Mine (Visual Novel)
Genre: Canon Trans Character, F/F, Implied Fistfights, Implied Transphobia, Multi, Pre-Canon, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 04:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19845922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssoouupp/pseuds/ssoouupp
Summary: Snippets from the early days of the Pluto/Mars/LT Polycule





	Action at a Distance

_”You were the one who didn’t let Earth’s gravity choose your body._  
_I wouldn’t have been able to choose if you hadn’t shown me_  
_That’s a victory they can’t take back from us.”_  
\---  


  


____

Pluto and Dr. Nix sit together at the edge of a fountain in the Garden District. Pluto is watching the other children as they go about their business, chatting away between bites of chocolate ice cream. Whenever Pluto has a particularly rough day at training, Dr. Nix takes her out for ice cream. It’s as close to motherly as Nix allows herself to get—she knows she can’t be that for Pluto, that she wouldn’t enjoy or succeed at the role even if she could, but she knows how much they’re asking of Pluto, and she wants to ease that burden in some small way.

Nix is done with sacrificing unwanted children for the sake of the wanted. She came to space to make a place where the unwanted could be happy, and she’s determined to make Pluto happy, even if she has to do so personally. That’s not motherhood so much as professional dedication.

“Who is that girl?” Pluto points to a tall, light-haired girl in a worn pilot uniform, torn in several places, who shuffles into a nearby clinic.

“That’s Luna-Terra.”

“Oh! Didn’t she used to be a boy?”

Dr. Nix nods.

“Is—is that allowed?” asks Pluto.

“Why not? We need you kids to be as human as you can be when you fight the existential threat. Luna-Terra is at her most human when she’s a girl.”

“That’s wonderful! But then, why is she so sad? I always thought that girls were happy.”

Dr. Nix’s eyes go wide. The clinic must be something like 60 meters away. Luna-Terra is out of their line of sight. That Pluto can read _her_ of all people, at that distance…

Nix realizes that Pluto is expecting an answer. This is why she can’t be a parent for this kid. Pluto asks a serious question and her immediate response is to think of the research implications.

“It’s not easy, to be a girl, when you grow up in a Culture that tells you you’re a boy. It’s extremely difficult on earth. It’s hard even up here. Her body had already begun to change in the way that boy bodies do, and even with help, it’ll take time to undo that. Not all of the other kids understand yet. We’re doing our best for her but we don’t have a lot to go on. That’s probably why she’s sad.”

“Oh…” Pluto goes quiet. She picks absentmindedly at the rest of her ice cream. Dr. Nix has never seen Pluto quiet, and it worries her. She spends the next ten minutes like that and then looks up, startled. A moment later, Luna-Terra leaves the clinic with two pill bottles, shoulders marginally less hunched than before. Pluto turns to Dr. Nix. She looks happier than Nix has ever seen her, and in her eyes Nix sees the reason that she brought these kids to space.

“I want to be a girl too.”

  


\---  
_“You impress me a lot!”_  
_“When have I ever?”_  
_“You impress me by the way you tried way too hard to support girls like me when we were awkward, weird, annoying, and had no idea what we were!”  
\---_

  


____

“So, you’re a girl now?”

Mars is leaning across the table, looking at Pluto with excitement and interest. Mars is often excited, but Pluto is still gratified that she’s excited about this.

“Yeah! As soon as I realized that I could be it just…seemed so obvious!”  


It’s only been a couple days since Pluto began taking hormones, but her face is already noticeably softer, and completely absent of even the soft fuzz her chin used to sprout. It’s horrifically unfair, and Pluto knows, but she’s determined to be grateful rather than guilty about it.  


“Awesome! Welcome to the club!” Mars smiles in a way that is almost as dorky as what she just said. “So, do you… have a new name now or something?”  


“It’s Pluto!”  


“Pluto… that’s a very pretty name”  


It’s such a rote, insincere sounding thing to say, but Mars really means it, and Pluto knows she really means it, and Pluto loves her for it.  


“Actually, this explains a lot.” Mars means that it explains why Pluto used to seem weirdly jealous of her, or why she never sat with the boys during mealtimes, or why she would always change in her dorm instead of the far more convenient locker rooms. Mars also means that it explains why she wants to kiss Pluto, when all her other crushes have all been on girls. She doesn’t intend to convey that last meaning, and yet…  


“Like, it explains why you want to kiss me?”  


Mars blushes, protesting “Pluto!”  


Now Pluto is embarrassed. “Sorry, sorry, I can’t help it.”  


“You still shouldn’t say it out loud!”  


“Why not? Wouldn’t it be worse to hide it from you?” Pluto’s unique situation can make her painfully frank. Most people find it annoying, but Mars finds it endearing, like she finds everything else about Pluto. It doesn’t make it any less weird to be on the receiving end though.  


“Oh Pluto…”  


  


\---  
_“When we were in the Academy, you were always chasing after her._  
_You’d swing the first punch, and she’d laugh, and you two would fight, and then you’d make out, and then you’d do it all over again”_  
\---  


  


__

The next day, Mars comes to the table with a freshly bleeding nose. Pluto would be concerned, but this is a regular occurrence for Mars, whose appetite for fights is matched only by her resilience to their consequences. At this point she just laughs and asks the routine question:  


“Who was it this time?”  


“That first-generation hotshot. She walks around like she’s better than everyone and it makes me so mad! I tried to say hi and she just ignored me! It was so rude!”  


“Luna-Terra?”  


Mars nods.  


“What if, she was just being shy?”  


“What?! Pluto, no, I promise, she was being a real jerk about it.”  


“I was hoping you’d get along better. She was the one who helped me realize I could be a girl.”  


“Her?!?!” Mars’s surprise is quickly followed by 3 competing emotions: jealousy, a desire to please Pluto, and a new admiration for Luna-Terra. Pluto can clearly feel it, and Mars knows that Pluto can feel it, but, mercifully, she restrains herself from speaking it for once.  


Instead, Pluto explains, “Luna-Terra is like me. I didn’t understand it was possible to be like me until I saw her. I was only able to do this because she took the first step, and showed me the way. That makes her special to me.”  


Pluto pauses to take a bite. Mars remains unusually quiet, with an expression that would be difficult to read if not for the narrative behind it.  


“I’m going to meet her soon,” says Pluto. “They’re sending me to Cronus for a few days and she’ll be part of my escort. I want to do something to make her happy the way she made me happy.  


“Pluto that’s… very Pluto of you. Very generous.”  


“But you don’t like it. You’re worried? Or jealous. Or both?”  


“I’m just worried!” Mars lies. “You’ve built her up in your head but I worry she’s going to disappoint you. I’m telling you she’s a jerk!”  


“You don’t need to be jealous. I’ll always love you no matter what.”  


Mars almost chokes on her food. “Ummmmmmmm?”  


“Or, is it that Luna-Terra isn’t the only one you’re jealous of? Does that mean—”  


“Pluto PLEASE”  


“Sorry, sorry! I’m doing it again aren’t I?”  


Mars and Pluto spend the rest of the meal chatting about their training. A day before Pluto leaves for Cronus, Mars comes to the table with another bloody nose from her rival, but also the memory of a kiss on her lips. Pluto spends the whole meal badgering Mars for details, eager to hear more about their mutual crush. Mars spends the whole meal flustered, trying and failing to keep up with Pluto. Both spend the day dreaming of a future with Luna-Terra and with each other.


End file.
